1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to commerce over a data communication network, and more particularly, to transactions involving goods and/or services conducted via an interactive video casting network having connectivity to the data communication network.
2. Background Information
An important business element in the production and distribution of television programming is revenue received from manufacturers and service providers who pay to advertise and sell their products. The survival of a television program is heavily dependent on the advertising revenue that can be realized from the television program. Advertisers in turn rely on the ability of the television program to draw viewers who then become potential purchasers of the advertised products. Advertisers attempt to match television commercials with the audience demographic of a particular television show.
Targeting potential customers through television advertising has its limitations. For example, the viewer may lack the motivation to travel to a store or to make a telephone call to purchase the advertised product. In some cases, the viewer must independently access the World Wide Web via the Internet to purchase an advertised product from a merchant's web site. Providing purchasing opportunities through a web site has proven to be less than successful for merchants in some instances, since the user has to navigate through web pages, the user's transaction history is sometimes difficult or cumbersome to track, advertisements targeted to the user are not always readily available, etc.
Also, a variety of people from different purchasing demographics may be watching the same television program. Advertising aimed at one particular group may be uninteresting or even displeasing to another group. Furthermore, television advertising can be untimely. Advertisers and/or merchants typically work weeks or months ahead of time to produce commercials for a particular holiday or sales promotion. Merchants have difficulty making quick adjustments in advertising plans due to changes in inventory or customer desires.
Accordingly, improvements are needed in the presentation of advertisements or promotions to potential customers.